Leadership Theories and Leadership Styles

Leadership
 Leading is a complex process
o Influencing others to accomplish a mission, task, or goal

1. GREAT MAN THEORY

 the assumption that leaders are born with innate qualities and leaders are designed to lead
 Thomas Carlyle - 19th century Scottish historian, developed the Great Man Theory
 What is the Great Man Theory?
 the theory was formulated by analysing the behaviour of renowned men, especially military
leaders
 leadership is greatly influenced by status
 history as the "biography of great men"
 lower classes and women were discounted
 only educated and well-bred men are capable of becoming heroes
 Pericles, Napoleon, Oliver Cromwell, and Martin Luther

2. TRAIT THEORY
 focuses on innate attributes and characteristics that a person possesses
 believes that leaders possess certain positive traits to become leaders
 developed by studying successful leaders and compiling a list of their common traits
 used as basis for choosing individuals who can be considered as leaders
 Ralph Stogdill, a professor at Ohio State University identified key leadership traits and skills

Key Leadership Traits and Skills

Traits Skills

Adaptable to situations Clever (intelligent

Alert to social environment Conceptually skilled

Ambitious and achievement- Creative

oriented
Assertive Diplomatic and tactful

Cooperative Fluent in speaking

Decisive Knowledgeable about group tasks

Dependable Organized (administrative ability)

Dominant (desire to influence Persuasive

others)
Energetic (high activity level) Socially skilled

Persistent

Self-confident

Tolerant of stress

Willing to assume
responsibility
Four Primary Traits
1. Emotional stability
2. Ability to admit error
3. Good interpersonal skills
4. Intellectual breadth
3. BEHAVIORIST THEORY
 Place more emphasis on the behaviour of the leaders rather than innate qualities
 Patterns of behaviour are observed and notable actions and behaviours are described
 Theory X and Theory Y – a behaviourist theory of Douglas McGregor

Theory X
 Assumes that workers inherently dislike work and will avoid it as much as possible
 Managers must emphasize external motivation that includes detailed guidelines, the threat of
punishment, the promise of reward, and strict supervision
Theory Y
 Assumes that workers take the initiative in their work and view it as a pleasant and productive
endeavour
 Managers must ensure that a pleasant environment is maintained in the workplace
 Leadership is democratic and participative

Leadership Grid
 Conceptualized by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton
 Defines leadership as balancing between two fundamental concerns:
o The concern for people
o The concern for results

Figure: The Leadership Grid (Blake, Mouton, 1985)

Five Styles of Leadership According to the Leadership Grid

1. Authoritarian Leaders (high result, low people)
 Task-oriented, push people to work
 Strict with schedules, expect people to follow without questions
 No opportunity to cooperate and collaborate
 Subordinates are blamed if something goes wrong

Five Styles of Leadership According to the Leadership Grid

2. Country Club Leaders (low result, high people)
 Use the power of rewards to maintain discipline and motivate their subordinates
 Leaders DO NOT use coercion
 Coercion leads to disharmony
Five Styles of Leadership According to the Leadership Grid
3. Impoverished Leaders (low result, low people)
 Delegate tasks and then leave their subordinates unsupervised
 Allow people to do their own thing, resulting to people struggling to finish their tasks
 Five Styles of Leadership According to the Leadership Grid
4. Team Leaders (high result, high people)
 Leaders are considered models of good management
 Encourage members to attain their highest potentials and motivate them to perform well
Five Styles of Leadership According to the Leadership Grid
5. Middle of the Road Leaders (medium result, medium people)
 Seek to compromise between production and people concern to maintain the status quo in the
company
 Limit themselves to the expectations of management
 Addressed all regular concerns regarding production of workers
 Unwillingness to “go the extra mile” leads to mediocre performance

4. PARTICIPATIVE LEADERSHIP
 Kurt Lewin – developed a framework focusing on leader’s decision-making style
 Leaders emphasize the role of leaders and other *participants in decision-making
 *subordinates, peers, superiors, and other stakeholders

Three Leadership Styles Based on their Decision-making Practices

by Lewin
1. Autocratic leaders
 Leaders take sole charge in decision making
 Appropriate for making quick decisions
2. Democratic leaders
 Leaders allow team members to provide intputs
3. Laissez-faire leaders
 Leaders do not interfere in the decision making and allow members to make most of the
decisions
 Good if participants are capable

Four Leadership Styles Based on their Decision-making Practices

by Rensis Likert
1. Exploitative Authoritative Leaders
 Low concern for people and use threats to make workers comply
2. Benevolent Authoritative Leaders
 Express concern for people
 Use rewards to encourage worker compliance and good performance
3. Consultative Leaders
 Make conscious effort to listen to ideas of subordinates
4. Participative Leaders
 Maximize the participation of subordinates from all levels

Leadership Continuum by Robert Tannenbaum and Warren Schmidt

1. Autocratic Leaders
 Leaders take charge of decision making and relay decisions to subordinates (telling style)
2. Persuasive Leaders
 Leaders make the decision for the group without consultation; make effort to persuade group
members to accept decision (selling style)
3. Consultative Leaders
 Leaders confer with members who propose possible solutions/alternatives; consider inputs
before deciding (consulting style)
4. Democratic Leaders
 Leaders present the problem to group and involve them in making decisions; decision is a
product of discussion and consultation (joining style)
5. SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP
 Leadership styles are specific to particular situation; adapts their actions and behaviour to
situations they’re in
 Suggests leadership styles also change based on the levels of organization
 Factors that affect a situation and decisions of leaders: (a) motivation and capability of
followers; (b) relationship between the leader and followers

Six Common Variables in Situational Leadership

1. Subordinate effort
2. Subordinate ability and role clarity
3. Organization of the work
4. Cooperation and cohesiveness
5. Resource and support
6. External coordination

Hersey-Blanchard leadership theory

 Developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard
 Focuses on the direction and emotional support a leader provides
 Considers the following elements:
1. Task Behavior – leaders assigns duties/functions
2. Relationship Behavior – opens the lines of communication between himself/herself and
other members
3. Maturity and competence – shows willingness to take responsibility for leading

Four Leadership Styles by Hersey-Blanchard

1. Directing
 Leader directs and gives clear instructions
2. Coaching
 Leader is always open to two-way communication
 Continually motivates employees
3. Supporting
 Leader and members support each other; there is active participation
4. Delegating
 Leader has followers who are highly competent; followers are highly motivated

Path-goal Theory of Leadership by Robert House

1. Supportive Leadership
 Leader looks after subordinate’s welfare
2. Directive Leadership
 Communicates the goals and expectations and assigns clear tasks
3. Participative Leadership
 Consults subordinates and considers ideas from them
4. Achievement-oriented leadership
 Leader sets challenging goals to motivate subordinates

Action-centered Leadership Model

 Team work is essential
 Task – includes defining the task, making plans, allocating resources, and assigning tasks
 Team – entails maintaining discipline
 Individual – includes attending to personal problems, recognizing and using individual
abilities, and developing group members
6. CONTINGENCY THEORY
 claims that there is no best way to organize a corporation, to lead a company, or to make
decisions.
 the optimal course of action is contingent (dependent) upon the internal and external situation.
 Fred Fiedler identified THREE factors that determine the nature of a managerial task
1. Leader-member relations – how well the manager and employees get along
2. Task structure – how well the workers know how to accomplish tasks
3. Position power – the amount of power a manager has in directing workers
 Based on the assessment of the situation, the manager identifies a leadership style most suited to
the task at hand
o Task oriented leader – focuses on the accomplishment of tasks
o Relationship-oriented leader – attempts to build highly satisfying interpersonal relations
o
7. TRANSACTIONAL THEORY
 The transactional style of leadership was first described by Max Weber in 1947 and then by
Bernard Bass in 1981.
 This style is most often used by the managers as it focuses on the basic management process of
controlling, organizing, and short-term planning.
 The leader-member exchange leadership theory describes how leaders in groups maintain their
positions through a series of agreements with members.
 Leader-member relationships are established and nurtured in a process that starts with role-
taking.
 When both the leader and member become familiar with each other's preferred level of
interaction, the next stage is role-making; involves the leader and member taking part in informal
negotiations.
 Social exchanges are established and finalized in routinization.

8. TRANSFORMATIONAL THEORY
 Emphasizes the concept of change
 Believes that leaders are tasked to provide direction and implement changes through performance
and the attainment of goals
 James Burns introduced the concept of “transforming leadership” (leadership with moral
dimension)
 Bernard Bass developed Burns’ concept into “transformational leadership” wherein the leader
transforms the followers
o Considers the transformational influence as a product of a two-way interaction
o Incorporates social change
 Bass defines transformational leaders as individuals who are able to perform the following:
o Expand the follower portfolio of needs
o Transform a follower’s self-interest
o Increase the confidence of the followers
o Elevate followers’ expectations
o Heighten the value of leader’s intended outcomes for the follower
o Encourage behavioural change
o Motivate others to higher levels of personal achievement

Transformational Styles and Leader’s Behavior

Transformational Style Leaders’ Behavior

Idealized behaviour
(living one’s ideals)
• Talks about their most important values and beliefs
• Specifies the importance of having a strong sense of purpose
• Considers the moral and ethical consequences of decisions
• Champions exciting new possibilities
• Talks about the importance of having mutual trust
Inspirational motivation
(inspiring others)
Intellectual Stimulation
(stimulating others)
• Talks optimistically about the future
• Talks enthusiastically about what needs to be accomplished
• Articulates a compelling vision of the future
• Expresses confidence that goals will be achieved
• Provides an exciting image of essential considerations
• Takes a stand on controversial issues
• Re-examines critical assumptions to questions whether they are
appropriate
• Seeks differing perspectives when solving problems
• Gets other to look at problems from many different angles
• Suggests new ways of looking at how to complete assignments
• Encourages non-traditional thinking to deal with traditional problems
• Encourages rethinking ideals which have never been questioned before

Individualized • Spends time teaching and coaching

consideration • Treats others as individuals and not just as members of its group
(coaching and • Considers individuals as having distinct needs, abilities, and aspirations
development) • Helps others develop their strengths
• Listens attentively to the concerns of others
• Promotes self-development

Idealized attributes
(respect, trust, and faith)
• Inspires other to take pride in being associated with the group
• Goes beyond self interest in working for the good of the group
• Acts in ways that merit respect from others
• Displays a sense of power and competence
• Makes personal sacrifices for others
• Reassures other that obstacles will be overcome

Stephen Covey’s contrast between transactional leadership and transformational leadership

Transactional Leadership Transformational Leadership

• Builds on person’s needs to get the job
done
• Is pre occupied with power and
position, politics, and perks
• Is mired in daily affairs
• Is short-term and hard-data oriented
• Focuses on tactical issues
• Relies on human relations to facilitate
interactions
• Follows and fulfils role expectations
by striving to work effectively within
current systems
• Supports structures and systems that
reinforce the bottom-line, maximizes
efficiency, and guarantees short-term
profits
• Builds on a person’s need for meaning
• Is preoccupied with purpose and
values, morals and ethics
• Transcends daily affairs
• Is oriented toward long-term goals
without compromising human values
and principles
• Focuses more on missions and
strategies
• Enables human potential in identifying
and developing new talent
• Designs and redesigns jobs to make
them meaningful and challenging
• Aligns internal structures and systems
to reinforce overarching values and
goals